Back in 2008, gas spiked to $4.50/gallon and the feds were about to raise EPA CAFE MPG numbers, so all the car makers were setting strategy. Mazda & Toyota said "no turbos", GM & Ford said TDI, etc., hybrids sprinkled around the product line-ups. Which strategy has paid off?
Goal: Measure powertrain efficiency to see what progress is being made, and which approach is best.
Formula: (hp/170) x (MPG/28) x (weight/3274)
...It adjusts for weight & power differences, normalized on the Equinox 1.5T numbers.
Notes: C-Max has a low ground clearance advantage, and the RAV4 Hybrid is disadvantaged by AWD friction.
All others are FWD for comparison purposes. 2018 models except the QX50 is 2019.
All jelly bean shaped CUVs of similar mass & size. Wheel & tire sizes are similar, all 17" to 19", ignoring those diffs, but you can see the QX50's massive 19" wheels actually mean it's powertrain is even better than the number suggests.
C-Max Hybrid (188/170) x (40/28) x (3640/3274) = 1.8 (low ground clearance, port, NA)
QX50 (264/170) x (27/28) x (3810/3274) = 1.7 (VC+Turbo+DI+portI)
RAV4 Hybrid (194/170) x (32/28) x (3924/3274) = 1.6 (AWD, portI, NA)
Mazda CX5 (187/170) x (28/28) x (3527/3274) = 1.2 (Skyactiv NA, cyl deactivate)
CRV (190/170) x (30/28) x (3307/3274) = 1.2 (TDI)
Escape (179/170) x (26/28) x (3576/3274) = 1.1 (TDI)
Equinox (170/170) x (28/28) x (3274/3274) = 1.0 (TDI)
RAV4 (176/170) x (26/28) x (3455/3274) = 1.0 (portI, NA)
I've heard Mazda is adding a supercharger to some '19 Skyactiv engines, which should advance that design approach in efficiency.
Nissan (Infiniti)'s design approach is in Hybrid territory, very good.
If you factor in "driving impressions", people don't like turbo-lag in TDI engines.
Conclusion: Hard to beat hybrids, yet, gotta say, the VC+turbo+DI+portI Nissan approach is awesome, no batteries required to get very high efficiency. GM & Ford need improvement, & Toyota needs to jump on the bandwagon to keep up in powertrain efficiency for their non-hybrid models.
For mostly city driving: Hybrids rule.
For mostly highway or mixed driving: Infiniti's VC Turbo engines are king. If they offer a downsized version in their cheaper car lines, it will reduce power but MPG will be way up there. So far, the '19 Altima VC-Turbo coming out still keeps the high HP 2.0L and still manages 29 MPG combined EPA, so a 1.5L version of it could get 35 MPG combined EPA or so in the future.
Goal: Measure powertrain efficiency to see what progress is being made, and which approach is best.
Formula: (hp/170) x (MPG/28) x (weight/3274)
...It adjusts for weight & power differences, normalized on the Equinox 1.5T numbers.
Notes: C-Max has a low ground clearance advantage, and the RAV4 Hybrid is disadvantaged by AWD friction.
All others are FWD for comparison purposes. 2018 models except the QX50 is 2019.
All jelly bean shaped CUVs of similar mass & size. Wheel & tire sizes are similar, all 17" to 19", ignoring those diffs, but you can see the QX50's massive 19" wheels actually mean it's powertrain is even better than the number suggests.
C-Max Hybrid (188/170) x (40/28) x (3640/3274) = 1.8 (low ground clearance, port, NA)
QX50 (264/170) x (27/28) x (3810/3274) = 1.7 (VC+Turbo+DI+portI)
RAV4 Hybrid (194/170) x (32/28) x (3924/3274) = 1.6 (AWD, portI, NA)
Mazda CX5 (187/170) x (28/28) x (3527/3274) = 1.2 (Skyactiv NA, cyl deactivate)
CRV (190/170) x (30/28) x (3307/3274) = 1.2 (TDI)
Escape (179/170) x (26/28) x (3576/3274) = 1.1 (TDI)
Equinox (170/170) x (28/28) x (3274/3274) = 1.0 (TDI)
RAV4 (176/170) x (26/28) x (3455/3274) = 1.0 (portI, NA)
I've heard Mazda is adding a supercharger to some '19 Skyactiv engines, which should advance that design approach in efficiency.
Nissan (Infiniti)'s design approach is in Hybrid territory, very good.
If you factor in "driving impressions", people don't like turbo-lag in TDI engines.
Conclusion: Hard to beat hybrids, yet, gotta say, the VC+turbo+DI+portI Nissan approach is awesome, no batteries required to get very high efficiency. GM & Ford need improvement, & Toyota needs to jump on the bandwagon to keep up in powertrain efficiency for their non-hybrid models.
For mostly city driving: Hybrids rule.
For mostly highway or mixed driving: Infiniti's VC Turbo engines are king. If they offer a downsized version in their cheaper car lines, it will reduce power but MPG will be way up there. So far, the '19 Altima VC-Turbo coming out still keeps the high HP 2.0L and still manages 29 MPG combined EPA, so a 1.5L version of it could get 35 MPG combined EPA or so in the future.